Active Cyburbia Forums threads

Architecture

What, if any, steps are being taken by traditional "big box store" retailers (Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc) to transplant their traditional model of suburban stores to urban areas? What steps are being taken by communities to allow for this to happen? Do certain aspects of codes/comp plans need to be modified for it?
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In 2002, City of Sound was among the first generation of planning/urbanism-related blogs to appear on the Web. Nine years later, City of Sound continues to be regularly updated, with posts and photos revolving around the themes of cities, architecture, design, media and culture.
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I once posted a thread about a local church with rather unique architecture that was up for sale and asked who but another church would be interested in re-using it (epilogue: another church bought it). Since that time I have encountered numerous examples of how churches (many of which had distinctive architecture) have been re-used in very clever and innovative ways.

Churches are but one example of distinctive buildings/land uses. My question for you is what types of buildings/uses tend to be worst suited for re-use due to appearance, function, renovation cost or other factors (that, or stick out like a sore thumb when they are re-used)?